South Carolina Electric & Gas Company

South Carolina Electric & Gas Company (SCE&G) is a regulated public utility and the principal subsidiary of SCANA Corporation, a $12 billion Fortune 500 energy-based holding company whose businesses include regulated electric and natural gas utility operations, telecommunications, and other non-regulated energy-related businesses. SCE&G generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electricity to approximately 661,000 retail and wholesale customers in a service area covering more than 15,000 square miles in the central, southern, and southwestern portions of South Carolina. The company is also engaged in the purchase and sale of natural gas, primarily at retail, to approximately 291,000 customers in a service area covering more than 22,000 square miles in central and southern South Carolina.

Existing Coal Plants
Fossil-fired plants account for approximately 45 percent of SCE&G's electric generation capacity:


 * Savannah River D-Area Power House is a coal-fired power station owned and operated by SCANA on the U.S. Department of Energy's Savannah River Site near Aiken, South Carolina. The plant provides power to the U.S. Department of Energy's Savannah River nuclear weapons storage facility.
 * Williams Station is a 610megawatt coal-fired power station near Goose Creek, South Carolina owned and operated by SCANA energy affiliate South Carolina Generating Company and sells electricity solely to SCE&G.

Coal supply
In the 2010 annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, SCANA stated that "coal is obtained through long-term supply contracts and spot market purchases. Long-term contracts exist with suppliers located in eastern Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia. These contracts provide for approximately 4.0 million tons annually, which is substantially all expected coal purchases for 2011. Sulfur restrictions on the contract coal range from 1% to 2%. These contracts expire at various times through 2014. Spot market purchases are expected to continue when needed or when prices are believed to be favorable."

History
SCG&E was one of the earliest forms of what is now SCANA Corporation. In 1846 local South Carolina business leaders came together to form the Charleston Gas Light Company, later Columbia Gas Light Company. Several small electric utilities emerged in the late 1800s and early 1900s and merged in the 1920s. In 1924, the Broad River Power Company organized as a subsidiary of General Gas & Electric Corporation and immediately set out on a construction program to add electric generating capacity. In 1937, the Broad River Power Company changed its name to South Carolina Electric & Gas Company. It remains SCANA's principal subsidiary.

Nuclear Plants
SCE&G has proposed building two new reactors at its existing nuclear facility in Jenkinsville. The company says the new reactors, which would cost $9.8 billion, could provide enough energy to power some 1.9 million homes. The plan is opposed by Friends of the Earth, the Sierra Club of South Carolina, and the Southern Energy Network, who argue for cheaper, cleaner alternatives. According to the Miami Herald, South Carolina law allows electric companies to raise rates to help finance the construction of new nuclear facilities. SCE&G has proposed a 37-percent increase in rates phased in through 2019 to help pay for the two new reactors. In February 2009 SCG&E received approval for the plants from South Carolina Public Service Commission.

Coal lobbying
South Carolina Electric & Gas is a member of the American Coal Ash Association (ACAA), an umbrella lobbying group for all coal ash interests that includes major coal burners Duke Energy, Southern Company and American Electric Power as well as dozens of other companies. The group argues that the so-called "beneficial-use industry" would be eliminated if a "hazardous" designation was given for coal ash waste.

ACAA set up a front group called Citizens for Recycling First, which argues that using toxic coal ash as fill in other products is safe, despite evidence to the contrary.

Permit Issues
On March 8, 2010 it was announced that the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control agreed to eliminate arsenic limits in a wastewater discharge permit for South Carolina Electric & Gas Company's (SCE&G) Wateree Station. SCE&G needs State approval for its coal ash ponds because wastewater from the site runs directly into the Wateree River. The ponds take waste from the company's 40-year-old coal-fired plant. Since the 1990s, high levels of arsenic, a carcinogen, have been found in groundwater and in seepage to the Wateree River from coal ash ponds at the power plant. Sierra Club and other environmental groups are posing to fight the permit on the grounds that arsenic ought not be eliminated.

Contact Information
SCE&G Columbia SC 29218 Phone: 800-251-7234 Website: http://www.sceg.com/

Related SourceWatch Articles

 * Existing U.S. Coal Plants
 * South Carolina and coal
 * SCANA
 * United States and coal
 * Global warming
 * Coal